wholly surrender | He must increase, but I must decrease. -John 3:30

Today I had the honor and the blessing to speak at multi-church gathering we hosted at our church. The theme for the day was A Return to Biblical Discipleship, and I was slated as the third and final speaker of the day.

I was asked to speak on The Nuts and Bolts of Corporate Discipleship. So while the main goal of my talk was to give specifics on how we disciple believers here at Calvary, I also wanted to start with a challenge and exhortation about discipleship in general. So I did that by outlining and discussing the following ten discipleship truths spoke by Christ in Matthew 10:24-42.

1. It requires the Pastor/Leader be a disciple & a disciple maker. – v. 24-25
2. It requires embracing change. – v. 27-28
3. It requires trusting & following God’s sovereignty. – v. 29-31
4. It requires personal commitment & surrender. – v. 32-33
5. It requires bearing trials & tribulations. – v.34-36
6. It requires single-minded undivided worship. – v. 37
7. It requires personal sacrifice. – v. 38
8. It requires denial of self. – v. 39
9. It requires proper motives & purpose. – v. 40-41
10. It requires service. – v.42

I considered unpacking each one of those and explaining in more depth what I shared today, but instead I think it might be more beneficial for you to read each truth, the verses, that accompany it, and then prayerfully and humbly ask God to reveal how each of these truths needs to speak into your own life.

You might even want to take one a day for a week and half and just meditate on each one.

Maybe later on when I have more time I can flesh out more details on each one, but I know that Holy Spirit is a much better teach and interpreter than I could ever be so trust Him to speak to you through this simple outline and accompanying scriptures.

We could all stand to deeper evaluate our walk with Christ and commitment to discipleship. Hopefully this will help you in that endeavor.

–Wholly Surrender!

This past Wednesday night at church we sang Todd Agnew’s arrangement of Come Ye Sinners. The original text to this great old hymn was written by British preacher Joseph Hart 1759. Here are lyrics:

Come ye sinners, poor and needy
Weak and wounded, sick and sore
Jesus ready stands to save you
Full of pity, love, and power
Come ye [...]

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